Valley Voice: Unfair citations,excessive fines

Raising a family of five on a teacher's salary is difficult enough without facing ridiculous fines imposed by the city of Indio and the state of California. My family recently moved back to the desert from the Bay Area and we have been exposed to the hefty fines — some attributed to local ordinances and others that may be statewide.

For example, Desert Sands Unified School District teachers had Good Friday off this year, which fell on the third Friday of the month. I had my van parked out on the street in West Indio, in front of my in-laws' house because that is who we are currently living with. We had only been back from San Francisco for less than nine months and were not aware of the one sign, which is on a blind corner that states there is street sweeping on the third Friday of the month.

Keep in mind that this sign has very limited visibility and information: does not specify what side of the street — no penal code and no fine information or number to contact for questions and answers. The signs in San Francisco frequently post this type of information.

My wife and in-laws were out of town the Friday I received the ticket, but nevertheless they were unaware of the new sign in their neighborhood. Also, they were never given any notice by the city, not to mention that the sign is extremely difficult to see and read unless one were to park down the street from the sign, walk up to it and read it to avoid getting rear-ended on this blind curve.

I walked outside the morning I received the ticket and noticed a code enforcement officer directly across the street from the house.

I immediately got my shoes on to see why he was parked in his car, writing something. I thought that I had forgotten about trash day and started to proceed outside to see if I had a ticket on my van windshield or if there were neighbors' trash cans outside. Neither had taken place.

The officer did notice me as I walked out, but did not attempt to speak to me or warn me to move my van, so I walked back in the house thinking there was nothing wrong. About a half-hour later, I left to go grocery shopping and noticed the $89 ticket on my windshield. I was shocked, especially due to the fact that I had not even noticed any neighborhood sign posting or received any warning.

I ventured into the neighborhood to locate this elusive sign and found it, but I noticed about four other neighbors, on the same street, had received the same citation, which gave me the impression that others were also not aware of this new ordinance. I also knew it was a new ordinance because my family and I had lived in this neighborhood years ago and my in-laws had lived there for more than 18 years and nobody ever encountered such a parking citation.

I tried to contest this citation, but to no avail. I was also upset about the amount of the citation considering we had lived in the Bay Area for six years and their similar citations are about half the cost.

I also contacted my mother, who lives in Long Beach, and she has received the same citation, but the cost was only about $40 for a street sweeping violation.

I believe the city, like many other government entities, is imposing exorbitant fines that are not only ridiculous but signify government greed during a time of economic hardship for all citizens, especially in Indio, considering the city apparently almost lost its contract with Goldenvoice and Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival because of their requested increase of revenue from the world's most popular musical festival. But they were quickly silenced when the music giant threatened to go elsewhere. Maybe citizens of Indio will have to do the same.

A.M. Tristan of La Quinta is a teacher with the Desert Sands Unified School School District.